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License Review Routing Sheet

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License Review Routing Sheet STATE OF MAINE DEPARTMENT OF ENVIRONMENTAL PROTECTION 17 STATE HOUSE STATION AUGUSTA, MAINE 04333-0017 DEPARTMENT ORDER IN THE MATTER OF CENTRAL MAINE POWER COMPANY ) SITE LOCATION OF DEVELOPMENT ACT See Appendix A for Location ) NATURAL RESOURCES PROTECTION ACT NEW ENGLAND CLEAN ) FRESHWATER WETLAND ALTERATION ENERGY CONNECT ) SIGNIFICANT WILDLIFE HABITAT L-27625-26-A-N (approval) ) WATER QUALITY CERTIFICATION L-27625-TG-B-N (approval) ) L-27625-2C-C-N (approval) ) L-27625-VP-D-N (approval) ) L-27625-IW-E-N (approval) ) FINDINGS OF FACT AND ORDER OVERVIEW This Order conditionally approves Central Maine Power Company's applications for State land use permits for the New England Clean Energy Connect project. The record of this proceeding demonstrates that the project will satisfy the Department’s permitting standards subject to the conditions in this Order. Issuance of this Order follows a 29-month regulatory review, which included six days of evidentiary hearings and two nights of public testimony. Twenty-two parties, consolidated into ten groups, participated in the evidentiary hearings by helping to shape the administrative review process, providing sworn testimony from dozens of witnesses, cross examining those witnesses, and submitting argument on the interpretation and application of relevant permitting criteria. Hundreds of Maine citizens testified during the public hearings and submitted written comment on the many issues the application presented. The hearing and public comment process provided the Department with critical information and analysis of the applicant's proposal, its impacts, whether and how those impacts can be mitigated, and the availability of alternatives. The record shows the project as originally proposed would have had substantial impacts, particularly in the 53.1-mile portion of the corridor that extends from the Quebec border to The Forks, known as Segment 1. The record also shows that it is feasible to avoid or minimize those impacts through a variety of mitigation measures. This Order does so by imposing a set of conditions identified and developed through the public process. These conditions provide an unprecedented level of natural resource protection for transmission line construction in the State of Maine. They are also fully supported by the evidence. For example, the hearings highlighted the impacts the proposed project would have on fish and wildlife habitat, scenic character, and recreational uses of the Segment 1 area. The evidence shows that the width of the corridor, and the manner in which vegetation is managed within it, are key factors that drive the severity of those impacts. This Order limits the width of the cleared corridor in Segment 1 – originally proposed to be 150 feet – to 54 feet at its widest point. The Order requires the applicant to use poles in ecologically sensitive areas that are tall enough to preserve forest canopy. It requires that wildlife corridors be preserved in deer wintering area. L-27625-26-A-N/ L-27625-TG-B-N/ L-27625-2C-C-N L-27625-VP-D-N/ L-27625-IW-E-N 2 In all other portions of Segment 1, the Order requires that cutting of vegetation be limited and tapered tree growth be maintained within the corridor, significantly reducing the area cleared and minimizing visibility of the project. Herbicide use is prohibited throughout Segment 1. The combined effect of these conditions is to shrink the footprint of the project and reduce its overall impacts dramatically. Some project impacts, however, will remain. The Order requires substantial measures to compensate for these impacts, including that the applicant conserve 40,000 acres in western Maine permanently. The conserved lands may be open to commercial forestry utilizing sustainable harvesting practices. The Order also requires the applicant to set aside $1,875,000 for culvert replacements in western Maine, which includes the Segment 1 area. The evidence shows this should be adequate to fund 25 culvert replacement projects, which will enhance fish habitat by facilitating passage, reducing erosion, and improving water quality. The hearings also focused on whether a practicable alternative exists to the applicant’s chosen route and proposed design that would be less damaging to the environment. The evidence shows that it does not. The alternative routes potentially available are each problematic for their own reasons, including the need to cross or go around conservation lands such as the Bigelow Preserve, greater impacts to the Appalachian Trail, and an increase in cleared corridor area. Nor is the undergrounding alternative preferable. Record evidence supports the conclusion that undergrounding in Segment 1 may be so technically challenging as to be impracticable. Even if technically practicable, the trenching that undergrounding entails would result in greater impacts to natural resources such as wetlands. Undergrounding also would require a permanent clearing in Segment 1 that is 75 feet in width, almost 50% wider than the corridor clearing approved in this Order. The applicant’s stated purpose for this project is to provide renewable electricity from Quebec to the New England grid. The Department applied the statutes and regulations it administers in this Order to approve the least environmentally damaging alternative available to achieve that purpose. The Order puts in place a comprehensive set of conditions designed to avoid and minimize the project’s impacts to the extent possible, while also requiring substantial offsite compensation for those impacts that remain. So conditioned, the project fully satisfies the Department’s permitting standards. ANALYSIS, FINDINGS, & CONCLUSIONS Pursuant to the provisions of the Natural Resources Protection Act (38 M.R.S. §§ 481–489-E) (NRPA), the Site Location of Development Act (38 M.R.S. §§ 480-A–480-JJ) (Site Law), Section 401 of the Federal Water Pollution Control Act (33 U.S.C. § 1341), and Chapters 310, 315, 335, 373, 375, 376, 500 and 502 of the Department of Environmental Protection (Department) rules, the Department has considered the application of CENTRAL MAINE POWER COMPANY(CMP or applicant) with the supportive data, agency review comments, party comments, public comments, hearing materials, and other related materials on file and FINDS THE FOLLOWING FACTS: L-27625-26-A-N/ L-27625-TG-B-N/ L-27625-2C-C-N L-27625-VP-D-N/ L-27625-IW-E-N 3 1. PROJECT DESCRIPTION AND ADMINISTRATIVE BACKGROUND A. History CMP has been developing its transmission corridors over a period of years. Much of this development pre-dated the Site Law and the NRPA, but there also have been Department Orders issued in the past that have approved the construction of new electrical transmission lines, upgrades of existing electrical transmission lines and the construction or expansion of new and existing substations. Previous Department Orders issued for projects located in the transmission corridor at issue in this proceeding include the Maine Power Reliability Program (MPRP) #L-24620-26-A-N/ L-24620-TG-B-N/ L-24620-VP- C-N/ L-24620-IW-D-N/ L-24620-L6-A-N, dated April 5, 2010. Previous Department Orders issued for substation projects located within the corridor under consideration in this Order include: #L-T00822-TB-A-N (Surowiec Substation expansion in Pownal), dated September 8, 1999; #L-17973-26-AJ-M and #L-17973-26-AK-T (Maine Yankee Substation expansion in Wiscasset), dated December 15, 2006; and the MPRP Order. CMP submitted an application summarized below on September 27, 2017 for the New England Clean Energy Connect (NECEC) project seeking both a Site Law and NRPA permit. Portions of the proposed NECEC project are located on or adjacent to the projects listed above. B. Overview The applicant proposes to construct a 145.3-mile long, 320 kilovolt (kV) High Voltage Direct Current (HVDC) transmission line from Beattie Township to Lewiston; a converter station to convert the Direct Current (DC) electricity to Alternating Current (AC) electricity on Merrill Road in Lewiston; a new substation on Fickett Road in Pownal; and a new 26.5-mile, 345-kV AC transmission line from the existing Coopers Mills Substation in Windsor to the existing Maine Yankee Substation in Wiscasset. The applicant also proposes to rebuild several existing transmission lines and upgrade three substations. The HVDC portion of the transmission line will be placed on single steel poles that will average approximately 100 feet tall and will be spaced approximately 1,000 feet apart. The new 345-kV lines and the reconstructed 115-kV lines will be constructed on a variety of different structures, including 125-foot tall steel structures, 80-foot tall single pole structures, 75-foot tall, wooden H-frames, and 45-foot tall, wooden, single pole structures. The applicant divided the project into five transmission line segments and construction or upgrades of substations. (1) Transmission Lines a. Segment 1 Segment 1 starts at the Maine/Quebec border in Beattie Township and continues within a 300-foot wide right-of-way (ROW) to The Forks Plantation. Segment 1 is an approximately 53.1-mile long, 320-kV DC transmission line. The applicant proposes to use the southernmost 150 feet of the ROW for the Segment 1 corridor. L-27625-26-A-N/ L-27625-TG-B-N/ L-27625-2C-C-N L-27625-VP-D-N/ L-27625-IW-E-N 4 This segment is located primarily in working forest. Segment 1 crosses 480 freshwater wetlands; 280 rivers, streams, or brooks, of which 237 contain coldwater fisheries habitat, including the Upper Kennebec River, which is an Outstanding River Segment; six Inland Waterfowl and Wading Bird Habitats (IWWH) with 8.23 acres of conversion; and six Significant Vernal Pools (SVP).1 As originally proposed, a 150-foot wide cleared corridor would have been created except for areas within 25 feet of rivers, streams, or brooks. Within 25 feet of these resources, the applicant originally proposed to remove all woody vegetation during initial clearing and subsequently to allow non-capable woody vegetation to grow up to ten feet tall outside the wire zone.
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